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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. Did you ________________ the button?
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. mate — a friend
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. file — a document
  6. kid — child
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. cell — a phone
  9. wind — moving air
  10. file — a tool
  11. kid — to tease
  12. press — a publisher
  13. press — newspapers
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. date — the fruit
  16. sharp — clever
  17. mate — a partner
  18. wind — moving air
  19. press — to push
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. file — a line of people
  22. cell — in biology
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. mate — to breed

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com